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The Way

    by Kevin Pauley

April 22, 2020

Who is this who obscures My counsel with ignorant words? Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me. Where were you when I established the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? - Job 38:2-5 HCSB

A great surgeon once allowed a shoemaker to observe him at work. The shoemaker watched with no small measure of trepidation as the master surgeon skillfully sliced into his patient’s body. Oddly enough, it seemed to the shoemaker that the surgeon was cutting…  ( Click for more )

And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. - Acts 2:17-21 HCSB

God has used prophetic dreams and visions in the past and will do so again in a particularly startling fashion toward the End of Days.[1]

Today, God principally speaks to us through His Son[2] Jesus Christ, the living Word of God.[3] The Bible is the Word of God in written form. God the Father gave it to Christ. Christ, in turn, inspired both the…  ( Click for more )

And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. - Acts 2:17-21 HCSB

Sometimes, God speaks directly to us in dreams.[1][2] However, in a day when beautiful coffee table books on angels and dreams are a dime a dozen, we need to remember that these divine dreams were not always very pleasant. Often, they were positively nightmarish.[3] At one time, this was a highly sought-out form of divine communication and those who…  ( Click for more )

April 19, 2020

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. - Ephesians 6:11-13 HCSB

On the 24th of March 1969, a young Marine named Ronald Coker was serving as a point man, patrolling in the Vietnamese province…  ( Click for more )

April 18, 2020

He said to another person, “Come, be my disciple.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” Jesus replied, “Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead. Your duty is to go and preach the coming of the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-62)

Have you ever noticed how often…  ( Click for more )

April 17, 2020

"Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:17-19 HCSB

There is a growing and very vital movement to…  ( Click for more )

April 16, 2020

…the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men…Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let nothing he said prove false. All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear in Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word. - 1 Samuel 2:26; 3:19-21 HCSB

As a young man, Samuel was a rare find. His mother dedicated him to the Lord and left him at the Temple immediately after he was weaned. His character was near perfection. “Holekh va’gadel”…  ( Click for more )

"Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there." So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink." As she went to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand." But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I don't have anything baked--only a handful of flour in the jar and…  ( Click for more )

April 14, 2020

For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. - Galatians 5:13-14 HCSB

There are many today who try to foist a “Gospel of love” on believers. They emphasize God’s grace and mercy so much that they actually wink at sin! Galatians 5:13-14 is one of the favorite passages they like to quote. However, its historical context includes the fact that the Judaizers were trying to get the…  ( Click for more )

April 13, 2020

Alternate title: Ecotheology

The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth. – Revelation 11:18 HCSB

Those who abuse their stewardship are not likely to make it to heaven.[1] We are Jesus’ slaves and He has put us in charge of the care of his possessions. One of the perks is that we get to eat the Master’s food. However, the Lord…  ( Click for more )

April 12, 2020

Alternate title: Ecotheology

The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth. – Revelation 11:18 HCSB

Sin cursed the ground but did not change the command to care for the planet.[1] The ground was cursed for our sakes, and our job became much more difficult. However, God did not abrogate our call to care for the soil and the plants therein.…  ( Click for more )

April 11, 2020

Alternate title: Ecotheology

The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth. – Revelation 11:18 HCSB

According to the Smithsonian Institute, half of Earth’s life forms live in rain forests, yet we are losing a net total of one acre of tropical forest every second. In the time it took to say that sentence, 12-15 acres of rain forest…  ( Click for more )

April 10, 2020

"When a foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You must regard the foreigner who lives with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. - Leviticus 19:33-34 HCSB

In 1988, Amnesty International documented the torture and sexual molestation practiced by U.S. Border patrol agents.

On August 9,1997, Abner Louima, a legal Haitian immigrant, was brought to the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, New York, after four (all white) police officers arrested and repeatedly…  ( Click for more )

April 9, 2020

“If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited. Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter. If you say, "But we didn't know about this," won't He who weighs hearts consider it? Won't He who protects your life know? Won't He repay a person according to his work?” - Proverbs 24:10-12 HCSB

In September of 1940, the America First Committee was created. While a war was brewing in Europe that would eventually result in 165 million deaths of mostly Africans, Asians, and Europeans, six million “Gold…  ( Click for more )

April 8, 2020

"If you are not careful to obey all the words of this law, which are written in this scroll, by fearing this glorious and awesome name--Yahweh, your God-- He will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. The LORD will also inflict you with every sickness and plague not recorded in the book of this law, until you are destroyed.” - Deuteronomy 28:58-61 HCSB

India was once one of the most…  ( Click for more )

April 7, 2020

"If you are not careful to obey all the words of this law, which are written in this scroll, by fearing this glorious and awesome name--Yahweh, your God-- He will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. The LORD will also inflict you with every sickness and plague not recorded in the book of this law, until you are destroyed.” - Deuteronomy 28:58-61 HCSB

Today’s prophetic passage…  ( Click for more )

My people, remember…what happened from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the LORD's righteous acts. What should I bring before the LORD when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the child of my body for my own sin? He has told you men what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: Only to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your…  ( Click for more )

April 5, 2020

So if you consider me a partner, accept him as you would me. And if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it--not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self. Yes, brother, may I have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Since I am confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. - Philemon 1:17-21 HCSB

A king once had a wise steward who he placed in charge of the royal treasury. It was such an important position…  ( Click for more )

April 4, 2020

"Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?" Now, the LORD of Hosts says this: "Think carefully about your ways: You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to become drunk. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it." The LORD of Hosts says this: "Think carefully about your ways. Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house. Then I will be…  ( Click for more )

I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all the residents of Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every vestige of Baal, the names of the pagan priests along with the priests; those who bow in worship on the rooftops to the heavenly host; those who bow and pledge loyalty to the LORD but also pledge loyalty to Milcom; and those who turn back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of Him. Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests. On the…  ( Click for more )

April 2, 2020

Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, "We will do and obey everything that the LORD has commanded." - Exodus 24:5-7 HCSB

An elderly man who was hard of hearing went to get a medical checkup. After the usual tests, the doctor carefully explained his recommendations to the aged man, who nodded his…  ( Click for more )

April 1, 2020

How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the LORD's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. - Psalm 1:1-2 HCSB

It is good to have righteous friends because it is nearly impossible to not be influenced by those who are around us. We humans are such social creatures that we will take on the characteristics of the crowd within short order.

Go to a construction site and look at all the workers. Though they don’t wear uniforms, their dress is nearly uniform…  ( Click for more )

March 31, 2020

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good man produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. - Matthew 12:33-35 HCSB

One man was griping to another about how he hated to go home after a late card game. “I have to go through all this rigmarole just to get to bed without an argument. I turn off the engine…  ( Click for more )

March 30, 2020

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was…  ( Click for more )

March 29, 2020

For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so our comfort overflows through Christ. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is experienced in the endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will share in the comfort. - 2 Corinthians 1:5-7 HCSB

A wise old elder was practicing the mitzvah of hospitality when one of his guests accidentally spilled wine on the tablecloth. Noticing his guest's embarrassment,…  ( Click for more )

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